Plant of the Day: Potatoes
Photo of Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum)

Photo by "mrchickendog"


Earth Apples


Of all the plants that the native peoples of the Andes domesticated for food, the potato has wandered the most. Four centuries after leaving home, it is the fourth largest crop in the world, with China and India growing a third of the total harvest. Pretty good for a humble tuber. But what’s most impressive to me is the ten thousand years of cultivation in the Andes that came before the potato went abroad. I wonder if we modern folks will domesticate a plant of our own. Does anybody know of such a project?


To the botanist the potato is a tuber - a swollen portion of an underground stem. Lots of plants have underground stems. Most tunnel for a while and then turn upward, rise to meet the sun, and make a new plant. But potato stems stay underground and make a new plant at their tips in the form of a potato. No doubt the tubers were small when the first people discovered them ten thousand years ago, but centuries of domestication made them manyfold larger.


If the botany of a potato intrigues you, there’s more in this blog post: Plants, Man and Life.


By Mark Kane - the Groundskeeper, YourGardenShow.com

Copyright © 2012 YourGardenShow.com

Want to read more about this plant and other varieties? Click here for the Siberian squill (Scilla siberica) Plant Page!

Plant Photo Tagging - How it Works

Video by Tom Finerty, founder YourGardenShow.com

Plant Photo Tagging allows you to turn any garden photo into a rich tapestry of what you have planted. It’s fun, informative, and helpful to others visiting your garden. As you photo tag, you can easily add plant names from our database and/or make notes about anything you’d like. To get started, sign-in and go to your Garden.


Click on any image in your garden's slideshow Carousel to get to full-view mode. Click on the “Tag” icon just below your photo and you are ready to tag! Simply click and drag your mouse over a plant or area you’d like to highlight or tag. A pop-up box will appear and ask for either a plant name or a note - add one or both, then click “tag” and you’ve just tagged your garden!


Write and tell us your suggestion for a "How it Works" video:
how-it-works@yourgardenshow.com


For more info contact: help@yourgardenshow.com

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Plant of the Day archive

Siberian squill

Snowdrop

Douglas fir

Norway spruce

Common Lilac 'Marie Frances'

Common Lilac 'Wedgwood Blue'

Manchurian lilac 'Miss Kim'

Red mulberry

White spruce

Striped squill

Scotch pine

Frazier fir

Colorado Spruce

Hardy Pecan

Asparagus

Beet

Brussels Sprouts

Globe Artichoke 'Imperial Star'

American Hazelnut

Black Alder

Seven-son flower

European larch

Maidenhair tree

Butterfly weed

Creeping Zinnia

Garlic 'Spanish Roja'

Garlic 'Georgia Fire'

Garlic 'Persian Star'

Garlic 'Asian Tempest'

Aster 'Monch'

Aster 'Purple Dome'

Chrysanthemum

Beans

Corn

Pumpkin

Gourd

Sargent crabapple, Sargent

Gooseberry

Dwarf pear

American chestnut

Parsnip

Black walnut

Potato

Smooth Sumac

Juniper

Clematis - Nelly Moser

Clematis durandii

American elderberry

Russian arbor-vitae

Resurrection lily

Sweet Potato

Sedum

Blackberry

Cucumber

Mache

Japanese falsecypress

Sweet Autumn Clematis

Japanese Anemone

Carrots

Hot Peppers

Cilantro

Okra

Peppers 'Cal Wonder Orange'

'Cherry Pink' Tomatoes